Electronic Programming Guides (EPGs) are available to allow TV viewers to browse an X/Y array of video programs, usually organized with time along the horizontal axis, channels along the vertical axis, and programming information placed in the body of the array. One such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,121 to Young. Such EPGs may be built into TV receivers where they may control the tuning functions of the TV receiver itself. An EPG may also be built into a TV receiver and made capable of controlling the tuning and/or program selection of an A/V peripheral program source, such as a cable Set-Top-Box (STB) box or satellite Integrated Receiver Decoder (IRD). The EPGs may also be built directly into the STB or IRD so that the TV receiver functions only as a monitor. Alternatively, the EPG may be built into a separate box that controls the TV, an A/V peripheral, or both.
A number of consumer electronics companies are working on schemes to implement home A/V network infrastructures, such as the Home Audio Visual Interoperability (HAVi) standard. The nodes, or appliances, that will become part of such networks generally will include a user interface (UI) that provides control of the particular appliance, and provides access to the UIs of the other appliances on the network. This is being done against a background of a flashing "12:00"--a sometimes not so funny joke concerning the inability of users to perform basics functions with consumer electronics, such as setting the clock function on a VCR. New appliances must be truly plug-and-play if they are to be purchased and used by the consuming public.
It is also recognized that, as new appliances come on the market, very few consumers will scrap old appliances, or "legacy" equipment, to purchase a full system incorporating all of the new features. The new networks should therefore accommodate both the new appliance and the legacy appliance. A primary emphasis of some manufacturers has been the proposed inclusion of some appliance intelligence regarding the interconnectivity of the appliance within a network. This enables the appliance to assist the user during connection and operation of the appliance. Regardless of how well the appliances "find their way" in the networks, there will always be scenarios wherein a user is required to configure a network to accept a particular appliance, or to configure an appliance to meld into the network. There will always be unexpected situations, and products having unforeseen capabilities, that will require a user to facilitate seamless network operation. What is foreseeable is that a UI will need to be provided to assist the user with the unforeseeable. There are likely to be individual, proprietary, approaches to user interfaces.
The predominant EPG format is a X/Y grid, wherein a channel is displayed on one axis, time is displayed on the other axis, and the grid is filled with programming information. Although some believe that the X/Y grid metaphor has a limited future, even though it has been in use since the advent of the television age in the 1950's, any scheme which may replace the X/Y grid must still provide the same information contained in the grid, and must allow a user to navigate through that information. Thus, any EPG based on the X/Y grid metaphor may move smoothly to any new scheme that may replace the grid as the fundamental navigational paradigm.
Some A/V peripherals, such as Digital Video Disc (DVD) players and advanced video recorders, present an on-screen menu that allows a viewer to review the content of the programming on the media within the peripheral and to control the peripheral so as to view and control the presentation of that programming.
None of the known prior art, however, includes an Electronic Resources Guide (ERG) that is capable of recognizing that a new A/V peripheral has been added to a network, learning how the peripheral is connected within the viewer's A/V system or network, integrating that information into a guide for the network, and then displaying that information so that the user may control and view the programming provided by the new peripheral much the same as a user may select to view broadcast programming displayed in an EPG.
It is important that an ERG control a peripheral without the control codes of that peripheral being previously known to the ERG. It is also important that an ERG effectively control a peripheral regardless of the manner in which the peripheral is connected within the A/V network.
Prior art systems are known that provide a mechanism for interaction with an index for material recorded on video tape. Such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,713 to Levine, wherein an index for video tapes is created as programs are recorded under the control of the EPG. The index is held in the EPG system memory. When a tape is inserted in the VCR, the EPG searches the tape for a correspondence between any of the several indexes in memory and the items stored on the tape. Upon finding such a correspondence the EPG assumes the index is the correct one for the tape and allows the user to access the material on the tape by using the index.
System are known that allow the merging of EPG data from several sources, but always within the context of EPG information of a common type for a common application. No mention is ever made of using the merged information for any purpose other than selecting TV programs from an array of times and channels. Such systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,576 and 5,684,525, both to Klosterman.
None of the known prior art teaches or suggests using an ERG to control different types of peripherals, such as laser disc players or DVDs. The prior art does not discuss controlling unknown types of peripherals that must first register themselves with the ERG, does not discuss treating non-video streams, such as data services, within the ERG, nor does the prior art address methods to register peripherals within the ERG so that they may be treated as program sources within the ERG in the same way as broadcast channels are so treated.